


To Be Patient and Kind

by heartsickhalfwit



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - No Squip, Awkward Conversations, College Years, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Multi, Pining, Sexual Tension, Weddings, mikey has a secret yall, rich and jake are getting married!, slow burn probably, social expectations are a dick, the gang comes back together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-04-20 17:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14266152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsickhalfwit/pseuds/heartsickhalfwit
Summary: Rich and Jake are getting married, and after splitting apart for college the gang is coming back to New Jersey for the big event.(A/B/O)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh man, A/B/O is such guilty pleasure of mine and there is such a lack of it in this fandom. Hope you enjoy the first chapter!

The call comes through during Jeremy’s biology lecture. 

To his absolute horror he forgot to turn his phone to silent this morning and consequently the room is suddenly filled with the crooning of Adam Lambert. Cursing his weakness for allowing his friends to choose their own ringtones Jeremy scrambles through his backpack as the rest of the class looks on with expressions ranging from vaguely sympathetic to highly amused. Some dickhead alpha in the back is outright laughing at him. 

Jeremy is bright red by the time he finally fishes his iPhone out and silences it, only managing to get a brief glimpse of Rich’s contact photo flashing onscreen before Professor McNair lets out a very over exaggerated ‘ah hem’.

“If Mr Heere is finished with his highly important business, maybe rest of the class could kindly return to discussing the downfalls of cell-specific gene expression?’ she glares at him and Jeremy has never been more embarrassed in his life. Forget gene expression, his cells are about to spontaneously burst into flames and he for one will welcome to sweet embrace of death. He’s so focused on not making himself look like any more of a fool for the duration of the lecture that he doesn’t even wonder why Rich would be calling him in New Jersey when its currently ass o clock in the morning in Thailand . 

So it’s not until after dinner that Jeremy remembers the call. Wincing a little as he thinks of international calling fees he dials Rich back. 

“Jere! Buddy! How are you? How ya doing? Whats hip hop happening homie?” 

“Hey Rich, yeah I’m-“

“Good, great! That’s great! So stoked! How am I you ask? Fucking fantastic bro and here’s the reason why, Jake finally wants to make an honest man out of me!”

Faintly Jeremy could hear Jake’s pealing laughter in the background. His overworked student brain took a second to process why Rich was so excited. 

“Wait. Rich. Do you mean?”

“We got engaged! Jake proposed! He was all romantic and shit and I cried and he cried and the hotel staff cried and then we got smashed and did it like five times in the hotel suite.”

Holy shit. Jake and Rich were getting married? Rich was letting Jake marry him? Jeremy had known Rich since kindergarten and the kid had always been a rough and tumble, unemotional kind of guy. It had come as a surprise to everyone when he’d presented as an Omega on his eighteenth birthday, least of all Rich who’d vowed he was never going to, in his words “let any dumb alpha think they can own me.” 

Jeremy guessed the rules didn’t apply to his best friend Jake, who was basically the least alpha-ey Alpha either of them ever known. The two were well suited, but it was still sort of a shock. Rich and Jake were only twenty, his age, so young to get married. 

Well, Jeremy thought, I guess when you know you know. 

Truth be told he was a little jealous. His own love life was sadly lacking and nobody at college seemed to be taking an interest in the reclusive, gangly Omega who was too shy to join in with any club or event on campus. Since he and his friends had all gone off to different places around the states after they graduated, Jeremy’s social life had take a huge hit. There was nobody he missed more though, that his own best friend Michael. The pair Skyped every night from their respective dorm rooms five hours away from each other, but it wasn’t the same. 

But now was not the time to dwell on this. There was happy news!

“Oh my god Rich, that’s amazing! I’m so happy for you two!”

“Ha, thanks bro,” came Jake’s unmistakably thrilled tone from the speaker. “I can’t believe I landed such a catch, honestly.”

“That’s right Jakey-D, you are one lucky son of a bitch!” Rich sing-songed. He sounded far away. 

“Hey listen Jeremy, we have to go or we’ll miss the breakfast buffet. We just wanted to let you know, and obviously invite you to the wedding once we get all the shit sorted out. Actually Rich was wondering if you’d be his best man?”

Flattered, Jeremy readily agreed. He’d do anything to be let into a free cake tasting. 

“Nice! K dude, talk to you later, bye!” 

Jeremy could hear Rich’s jubilant cry of ‘pancakes’ in the background just as Jake hung up the phone and he smiled fondly. Like he said, he missed his friends. Jake and Rich had forgone the whole college scene in favor of a gap year which had never ended, and they spent most of their time travelling round the world on the guilt money Jake’s parents had left him before they vanished into thin air. 

Christine had gone off to New York to train professionally as an actress. She’d auditioned for Julliard twice unsuccessfully but was not yet discouraged, attending a smaller theater school and determined to keep going until she got in. Jeremy missed her not only because she was the kindest and funniest person he know (besides Michael of course) but also because she was the only other one of the gang to present as Omega, and that meant they’d bonded from the shared hatred of social pressures, alpha assholes and the dreaded bi-monthly heats. 

Jenna was somewhere in Boston working towards her degree in journalism. The last thing the Beta had posted in the group chat was that her new boyfriend worked for Buzzfeed and, ever resourceful, she was using him to try to get an interview there. 

Brooke was still in New Jersey, albeit the opposite end, but since she and Jeremy were both studying to get into medical school it was difficult to find the time to meet up. Occasionally they managed to grab a coffee somewhere, which was nice because they could both talk about how hard it was to be away from your favorite person. 

Chloe was off somewhere in California, managing to juggle her law coursework with, from what they could tell from her snapchat stories, an insane amount of partying. Her Beta best friend was clearly worried about the amount of hook-ups the Alpha bragged about, but Chloe seemed to be having fun. 

And of course, Michael. The two boys had always dreamed of attending the same college, being roommates and struggling through workloads sided by side just like high school, but when Michael had gotten an acceptance letter into SFCM he couldn’t begrudge the boy from going. Even if it meant they only saw each other maybe twice a year and it was killing them both. 

Jeremy was snapped from his reverie by the violent buzzing of his phone, which was now displaying mile a minute notifications from the group chat ‘JAKE YOU IGNORANT SLUT’. They’d gotten round to telling everyone then. 

He read the messages without opening up the app, too drained from a long day to engage in the frantic conversation the rest of his friends were having as they vied for the top spots in the wedding party. Christine wanted to officiate. 

He smirked. Knowing Rich and Jake that would probably happen. 

He did, however, open up the text he’d just gotten from Michael, with somewhat an edge of relief. The boy hadn’t responded to any of Jeremy’s messages for the past three days, not even any of the dog memes. He’d probably also just been bogged down by work. 

PLAYERONE: so, rich & jake huh??? :D  
JEREMY: I know, so crazy!  
PLAYERONE: kool tho. weddings! cake! badly fitted tuxes! do u think rich will wear a dress???  
JEREMY: No way dude, he’d rather die than be an omega stereotype.  
PLAYERONE: oh yeh. Sorry. 

Michael was rare in that he was a late bloomer, one of maybe ten percent of the population who didn’t present their secondary gender at the age of eighteen. This meant that he could be a bit clueless when it came to the strained relations between Alpha/Beta/Omega society, though not for lack of trying. Anyway, he’d present any day now, twenty was getting late in the game. 

JEREMY: It’s fine man, don’t worry. You coming back to Jersey for the ceremony?  
PLAYERONE: hell yesssssss!!!!!!!!! WOULDN’T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD BABY  
PLAYERONE: plus we can finally get to see eachother again :) ;)

He hadn’t thought of that. Michael and him in the same room together again! It had been months.

JEREMY: Oh my god. I didn’t even think of that.  
PLAYERONE: i cant wait.

They chatted for a little while longer, catching up on what was going on with each other. Michael didn’t want to Skype, something about his roommate trying to get an early night for work, so Jeremy just smiled softly at his screen as Michael typed out his story about a disaster with a broken cello string, an empty gum wrapper and a first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. It wasn’t long until he had dropped off into a nice, peaceful sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

So that’s how Jeremy found himself skipping class three days later to make the trip in his rusty garbage can of a car to his old home suburbs. Jake and Rich had just returned back from their vacation last night, and the squad were all desperate to congratulate them in person. They had decided almost immediately that there was to be a long overdue meetup. Even Michael was flying over from San Francisco, which was a crazy expense but whatever. His parents were paying. 

It was only Brooke who pointed out that the pair would most likely have the worlds worst jet lag and not want to entertain, but she was booed out of the group chat conversation by everyone, future married couple included. 

Jeremy had silently agreed but had no wish to earn the onscreen nickname ‘BIG OL PARTY POOPER #2’. He just made a mental note to swing by Dunkin Donuts that morning and pick up a large box of sugary treats and two large lattes. He was totally gonna claim these as engagement presents to save himself spending the extra bucks on something fancier.

He pulled into the driveway of what was counted Jake’s third house in the fancy neighbourhood his family had lived in since forever. Of course everybody knew about the fire which tore through the second, rather lovely, McMansion after it was burgled a few years ago, but Jake was always incredibly cryptic about what had happened to the first one- now just an abandoned lot on the end of the block. The answer changed every time you asked. Jeremy’s favourite so far was the story involving a confederate-era general’s ghost and sixty pounds of melted butter. 

It was a shame the jock had quit drama club after the brief stint junior year, he could have made a killer script writer. 

Jeremy mused this as he made his way up the long gravel driveway to the front door, attempting to balance his Dunkin purchases in his arms. He concluded, ringing the bell, that Mr Reyes probably wouldn’t have been able to stretch the arts budget to afford sixty pounds of melted butter. Margarine maybe? Either way, Christine would have written an incredible musical number about the dangers of heart disease. 

“Hey, tall-ass!”

He was startled from this creative reverie to find some sort of small goblin dressed in a dragon onesie leering from the abruptly opened entrance. 

No wait, that was just-

“Rich!” 

Said goblin almost knocked Jeremy over as he thwacked into his midsection, and actually did succeed in sending the box of donuts tumbling to the ground. Jeremey instinctively went to crouch down to rescue them but found his movements hindered by the Omega who had him in a crushing hug. 

“Dude! You made it!”

“Of course I made it, I live like an hour away.”

Rich released his grip, moving his hands to Jeremy’s arms and leaning back as if to scrutinise him. 

“You look good, man! A little skinny but that’s nothing new.”

Jeremy raised an eyebrow. 

“Thanks, I think. You look…manic, dude”

It was true. The guy was practically vibrating, dark bags under his eyes and a grin that was just a little too wide. 

“Ha. Yeah. I’ve been up for about thirty hours, maybe. The flight was a nightmare, oh my god, I only slept for about thirty minutes because I had this crazy dream-“ The two made their way inside (after collecting the slightly squished box off the ground) and into the living room where Jake lay passed out on the sofa. Chloe and Brooke sat crossed legged in front of the sleeping form, brandishing sharpies rather menacingly, but they jumped up and exclaimed when they saw the latest guest enter. 

Jeremy hugged Chloe for the first time in six months and made sure to compliment the new hairstyle, a sort of curly bob she explained was the result of loosing a big chunk of her locks on a wild night out. 

“The hairdresser said it was the largest wad of gum he’d ever seen! It took like two hours to get it all out.”

“It looks great, Chloe”

She smirked at him. “I know.”

Brooke giggled and gave him a little fist bump, handing him a bright orange marker and the three got to work on creating their masterpiece while Rich slumped down in an armchair and proceeded to go to town on the donuts as his fiancé was lovingly transformed. 

It was nice. It felt relaxing to just be chill with his high school friends, like being seventeen again, before the stress of exams and money and stupid secondary genders. It wasn’t quite complete though. 

“So,” he began, after Rich had finished relaying the story of a crazy scuba diving adventure he and Jake had done in Thailand, “when are the others getting here?” 

To everybody’s surprise it was Jake who piped up frim the sofa cushions. 

“Jenna should be here any minute, Christine got stuck in traffic and I think Mike’s flight got in a while ago so I have no idea. Hey, guys, by the way. Nice to see you. What’s going on with my face?”

“Jake!” Brooke squealed as he sat up and stretched, the other three bursting into surprise laughter. Rich crossed the room and cheerfully plopped himself down on the Alpha’s lap, giving his love a big smack on the lips. 

“Hey baby, how long you been awake? That was creepy as hell.” 

“Thanks. Um, a few minutes? You dudes have no idea how hard it is to stay still while someone is drawing a dick on your face.” 

He sat up properly and shifted Rich off of him to gather the gang into a hug with his massive arms. Jeremy couldn’t help but feel a little bit wobbly at that. Their friendship was completely and utterly platonic but the guy was just SO big and his pheromones smelled SO amazing right now, all lovey dovey and gooey and just a hint of protective over his new his soon to be mate. 

It was totally normal, Jeremy reminded himself, as he chatted away with the guy and congratulated him once again. After all this was one of his heat months and he was just feeling a little sensitive. Jake was handsome as fuck, no matter how many obscene doodles his face bore. And he was projecting super strongly, strongly enough that Chloe was careful to keep her physical touching with Rich to a minimum lest she rub off any of her Alpha scent on him. Again, totally platonic, but she was just aware of being respectful to the less logical side of their biology. 

Honestly Jake probably didn’t even notice. He only had eyes for Rich. The pair wound themselves together as they recounted the tale of the proposal, breaking off as Christine and Jenna entered the room at the same time so that everybody could once again shriek and hug and get caught up. Chris broke out the makeup wipes and they all rubbed Jake’s face raw.

Jeremy was having such a good time that he could almost forget that Michael still hadn’t arrived. 

That Michael had barely spoken to him in the past few days, that he certainly hadn’t answered any of his calls and that he hadn’t really even been active in the group chat other than to confirm he would see them all today. 

Almost. 

It was a relief when, after about an hour into the worlds most convoluted game of Monopoly, the group heard the crunch of gravel over tires coming from the driveway. Jake began to get up out of his seat but Jeremy beat him to it, leaping up and sprinting to the front door as fast as his gangly legs would carry him. 

He yanked it open and squinted from the afternoon sunshine, casting a glare off the windows of the beaten up PT Cruiser his best friend had had since he got his license and had left at his parents house when he moved out of state. 

A figure emerged from the hideous thing. A friend shaped figure. 

Jeremy ran. 

Michael slammed the door and turned as Jeremy yelled his name, his face lighting up. He opened his arms wide and let out an exclamation of his own as the pair finally, finally embraced after being apart for what had felt like forever. 

It was bliss. Total bliss. Jeremy was so wrapped up in the adrenaline of the moment that it took him a second to notice while his friend was blabbering on.

"It is so good to see you again, holy shit Jere, Jesus Christ I missed you, how long has it been? Fuck." 

He sounded a little hoarse, a little deeper than usual. He seemed just a bit off. 

No wait, not really off. Just...different?

Good different. 

REALLY good different. 

Wait, why did Michael suddenly feel so broad? The guy hadn't worked out a day in his life. 

He wiggled out from the embrace to get a good look at his favorite person. Michael’s grin had turned shifty, his eyes narrowing, and they weren’t the same deep brown that Jeremy had known most of his life.

These ones were sort of...red. 

The ball dropped as Jeremy took a deep breath and caught something, at the same time that Michael breathed his name and pulled him in closer, burying his face in the Omega’s neck. 

“Oh my god.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, what could possibly be different about Michael, the character I deliberately pointed out had not presented his secondary gender yet in this A/B/O story? What a mystery, what a cliffhanger this author has left you on. That's just the magic of writing, baby.


	3. Chapter 3

Jeremy stiffened, jumping backwards out of the hug and staring up at Michael in shock. The other at least had the decency to look chagrined as the Omega’s eyebrows furrowed. 

‘Micah…you um, uh, you-did you…?” 

But he couldn’t continue. The Alpha pheromones that had suddenly invaded the air were making him dizzy and forcing him to breathe through his mouth. 

Michael bit his lip, letting out an awkward chuckle as he gestured to his new (bigger, stronger) body, the red in his eyes fading so fast Jeremy wondered if he'd imagined it. 

“Sorry Jer. I was going to tell you, but then we were all getting together and I figured, hey, why not just show him? So uh, anyway…surprise! I presented!” 

“You’re an Alpha.” It was a statement not a question, and it came out nasally but his best friend hadn’t seemed to notice yet. 

“Yeah!” Michael perked up a bit. “It came as a shock, I guess I always figured I’d go Beta since my parents are too, but here I am! It’s weird, I’ve grown like a foot and, hey, check these out-“ he jokingly flexed his arms as he had done many times in the past, but this time Jeremy could actually make out muscles bulging underneath the worn red hoodie.

He gulped. 

“Yo Mikey, that you?” a call came from behind the pair, and they turned to see Jake leading the others out from the front door to greet the new Alpha. 

“Whoa dude, sick guns!” Rich hollered “You finally presented? About goddamn time too, but damn what kinda protein shakes they pump into that new Alpha body?” 

Jeremy let himself fall away from the group as they quickly surrounded the new arrival and forced himself to take a few deep breaths and clear his head.

That was kinda...intense? He felt gooey.

It seemed like Michael was clueless to the power of his new biology. 

Totally clueless to that fact that he’d basically scented Jeremy back there. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine” he muttered softly to himself, rubbing the spot on his neck where his scent gland lay, just under the collar of his shirt. He wasn’t going to let this get in the way of spending time with his best friend. He was just feeling sensitive. 

It helped that once they were all settled back in the living room, Christine sidled up to Jeremy and dragged him away from the room for a second. 

“I just wanted to check in.” she stage whispered once they were safely in the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water and handed one to Jeremy, who gulped it down speedily. His mouth was a little dry. 

“Why would you need to do that?” he purposefully averted his gaze as he wiped his lips free of the moisture and immediately began washing the cup in the sink. He focused hard on the photo hanging directly in front of him on the wall- it seemed to be from one of their Halloween parties back in high school. Rich, dressed in a cheerleading outfit, had his arms wrapped around Jenna who had stolen the school’s mascot costume (go coyotes!) and had drunkenly collapsed on top of Brooke, Jake and Chloe. He could just barely see their tangled limbs crushed under her furry exterior at the bottom of the frame. 

He remembered that night. Mikey was the one who had taken that picture, giggled and shown it to Jeremy who had spent the party glued to his side, feeling a little strung out after a pre-show smoke in the good old Mell family basement. 

Michael had taken really good care of him. 

He always did. 

Christine waved a frantic hand in front of his face, and he placed the glass in the drying rack before turning to look at her. “You know why, dork. Michael really has changed hasn’t he?”

Jeremy sighed. He didn’t want to admit how true that could be. 

“He seems really normal. I mean, personality wise, right? He might be taller, and a little more muscled and his voice is like, really, really deep and his hands, wow, they got large and I mean obviously he smells a little different and I know the-“ his rambling was broken off by Christine’s little chuckle and he promptly turned red. Had he seriously just rambled about Michael’s hands, of all things? 

Weak, dude, get it together. Why was he acting so strange? 

Chris took in his blush with an understanding nod, then pulled him down by the collar of his cardigan so she could whisper in his ear conspiratorially. “It’s okay, I’m getting it too. It’s a bit much all at once, huh?”

“Yes! Oh my god yes!” he quietly exclaimed. 

“I don’t know if it’s like a newly-presented thing or what, but the dude stinks.” 

She giggled a little and held her nose jokingly, and Jeremy instantly felt better. It wasn’t just him being silly after all, Michael really did have a vibe strong enough to cause these weird feelings.

“It must be! I knew I wasn’t going crazy!” 

Christine gave him a pat on the back (surprisingly hard for such a small girl) and a wink before cheekily remarking "Just try not to jump his bones when we go back in there, kay?”

Oh, there was that blush again. 

“Chris!” he actually yelled this time, loud enough that Michael and Chloe came and peeked round the doorway to check in. 

“You guys trying to fight to the death or fuck or what?” Chloe inquired, bored monotone not matching up with the devious smirk on her face when the pair turned to look at them. At this rate Jeremy was going to be permanently scarlet for the rest of his life. 

“Ewwwwwwww, Chloe, not cool!” Christine screeched in her direction, brandishing a wooden spoon she’d apparently materialised out of thin air and using it to poke the other girl in the ribs. 

“I don’t know, two Omegas? That's pretty ho-OUCH!” Michael waggled his eyebrows and stuck out his tongue before Christine turned the Holy Wooden Spoon of Justice at him too. 

“Bite me, Mell. A couple of days as an Alpha and you’re already behaving like a wild animal?” Jeremy mocked as the two Alphas tried in vain to grab the spoon and stop the torture, chortling all the while. This, he could deal with. Light-hearted banter between friends just like usual. 

Until Michael once more manged to give him a heart attack by brandishing his goddamn fucking shiny white Alpha fangs from across the room. 

“Oh you wish, Heere.” 

Holy heck they were sharp. 

Jeremy died a little. Christine also froze, and even Chloe stopped and stared once she realised. Michael seemed to get that he was being too rambunctious and shut his mouth, the moment passing in an instant. 

Chloe whistled. “Down boy, down.” 

Michael seemed just a tiny bit proud. “Pretty cool, right?”

Jeremy almost wondered if Michael had just been waiting for the opportunity to flash his fangs and show them off, but the thought was drowned out by the blood beating like a kick drum thought his head, and his desperate focus on keeping it there instead of heading south. The fuzziness in his eyes and ears meant it was hard to focus on what Jake, who had just entered the kitchen, was saying.

“Huh?” he was brought back to the surface by a gentle hand shaking his shoulder, and he dazedly looked up into Michael’s eyes, blinking a little. “What was that?” 

“Dude how much sleep did you get last night? You look wrecked. Come on, we’re going out for Taco Bell, the newlyweds are too lazy cook.” 

Taco Bell. Yes. Good. Food. 

Alpha. Touching him. Mmmm. 

For god’s sake Jeremy, this is the guy who made organised piles of his own dandruff when he was bored in English class all through fifth grade. You'd seen him barf up a thirty year old bottle of diet Crystal Pepsi. 

Michael rolled his eyes and grabbed his unresponsive best friend by the hand, moving to drag him out the door. “Come on sleeping beauty, you’re riding with me.” 

Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mikey is clueless, Jeremy is has too many clues, and we're about to witness the world's most awkward car ride. Stay tuned folks.


	4. Chapter 4

A rush of nostalgia washed over Jeremy as he settled on the cracked polyester seats of the PT Cruiser for the first time in god knows how long, and despite himself he couldn’t help but grin in Michael’s direction. The boy’s blinding smile in return made him feel a little better, but Jeremey, still unsteady from everything that day, was dreading the twenty minute drive to the fast food chain. 

As many times as he’d wished for it in high school he had never been blessed with superhuman abilities and as such there was no way he could hold his breath for so long. As casually as possible, Jeremy wound down his window just a fraction as they pulled out of the driveway. 

Unfortunately for him, it was the middle of autumn. Michael turned his head in confusion, trying not to take his eyes off the road. 

“Jere I understand the novelty of wind up windows in good ol’ 2021, but it’s like ten degrees outside so could we not?”

Sheepishly the Omega closed it back up, gulping in the last breath of air that didn’t scream ‘POTENTIAL MATE’ he would have for a while. His friend seemed unconcerned by his perceived lack of judgement and began chatting away in the usual mile-a-minute sort of fashion Jeremy had imagined their reunion would involve.

The difference was, this time he wasn’t raving about Nintendo 64 remakes or why Battlestar Galactica was underrated.

“Presenting was wild man. I don’t know what it’s like for Omega’s-“

Jeremy resisted the urge to visibly shudder as the memory of the week in senior year he missed to stay home and perform unmentionable activities to his now unfamiliar body, sweating buckets and crying and trying desperately to pretend his dad wasn’t knocking on the door asking if he could “answer any questions about these strange new urges, champ!” in a tone that was FAR too jovial for the situation. 

So yeah, Michael would not have been relayed any of that information. 

“-but I was out for about a week and it hurt like heck. It felt like I was teething again-“

Goddamn fangs. Christine and Rich had ranted once or twice about the archaic symbol of ownership and yeah he got that, but mating bites happened to be a feature more often than not of the porn Jeremy tended to gravitate towards. Sue him, biting was hot. 

“-and I have stretch marks up to my neck practically. Look at these things! I guess the new physique is kind of cool, but it doesn’t really feel like me, yaknow? I think I miss some of the chub but my roommate says-“ 

Usually Jeremy would be just fine with seeing the fraction of skin Michael was now displaying as he lifted up the hem of his shirt to show him the pale marks criss-crossed over his hipbones. This time, not so much.

He was going to kill his previous roommate, the super religious dude he had lived with for all of half a semester before he’d come home one evening to find the Beta had chucked out all his medication, claiming suppressants and birth control were “against God’s will.” The dorm president had practically thrown the guy out the window when she found out. 

He was also going to kill whichever backwards-ass politician put the refill limit for said medication, because he hadn’t been able to get his hands on replacements yet.

Deep breaths. You can do this. 

Wait, no stop the deep breaths. Too much Alpha in the air. Would it be weird to grab Micheal's pine tree air freshner and start inhaling? 

Jeremy audibly gulped and clutched his hands into tight fists, knuckles white and shaking.

“-and I know its gross but we’re best buddies, so I don’t mind telling you that my dick looks like-“ 

He could not do this. 

“Michael, enough!”

Whoops. Jeremy wasn’t expecting that to come out as loud as it did, and it startled Michael enough that he practically swerved into oncoming traffic. The pair shrieked and the car was pulled over onto the side of the road, both of the boys panting heavily as it finally rolled to a bumpy stop and the honking of passing cars began to quiet down. 

Jeremy clutched his hand to his heart while Michael engaged himself with what seemed like therapeutic deep breathing exercises, forehead resting on steering wheel. It took a minute to find his voice again. 

“Micah, shit, I’m sorry I didn’t meant to yell, I was just trying to say… I mean I had to let you know. Um. The things you were talking about it’s j-just not really okay when I’m…”

He trailed off. 

How do you explain to your best bro that him talking about his dick was making your dick very interested, no homo? 

An awkward silence filled the car, punctuated only by the sound of Michael’s heavy breathing until, just as Jeremy began to reach for the window again, he suddenly whipped his head up and fixed the Omega with a furious glare. 

“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” 

The words, low and filled with rage, hit Jeremy like a slap in the face. He could barley stutter out an incredulous “W-what?” 

“You’re jealous, Jere. It’s so obvious! You’ve barely looked me in the eye since I got here and you haven’t said a word about my presentation. This is a big deal for me, okay? You know how long I’ve been waiting and yeah I know it’s a surprise and its hard for you that I’m stronger and better now, but it’s not my fault!” 

His involuntary horny-ness was transformed into utter rage. Jeremy began to seethe at the complete nonsense he could hardly believe had just come out of his best friend’s mouth. Red in the face, his hands shot to tug at his hair in frustration as he retaliated. 

“Stronger and better? You think that because you’re an Alpha you’re stronger and better?” 

He spoke slowly but he spat the words like poison, and Michael’s expression faltered. 

“That’s not what I meant to say.”

“But that’s what you think, right?”

“No, I-“

“You think everybody in the world wants to be some big brainless meathead, Mikey? Is that it? Maybe I did when I was ten and believed all that bullshit gender role propaganda, but for god’s sake we’re not kids anymore so stop acting like one.” 

Although calling an Alpha a “big brainless meathead” wasn’t exactly forward thinking. Whatever, he was furious and about five minutes away from stress dropping into heat. 

Michael was clearly not pleased. 

“You’re so full of bullshit, Jeremy, I fucking know you cried when you presented Omega. You were always the one trying to be a stupid goddamn jock even though you’re just a wimpy little twink.” 

Ouch. That hurt. There was no way Jeremy was going to admit why he’d really interrupted him now, not when he was acting like this. 

“How can you say that to me? You’re supposed to be my friend you asshole!” 

“And you’re supposed to be mine! Stop acting like a baby!”

“Fuck off, Michael. I’m not the baby here. You’re so fucking oblivious and you don’t even care how this is affecting me, or anyone else for that matter! You didn’t even tell me you’d presented! You just show up out of the blue and expect everything to be completely normal, no warning necessary?”

A cruel, triumphant look spread across Michael’s face, and he laughed coldly. 

“I knew it. You are jealous.”

Jeremy let out a shriek of frustration, thumping his fist against the door before grabbing the handle and trying to yank it open. He had to leave, there was just no way he could have this conversation now. He needed air. 

But before he could leap out of his seat and storm off to…god knows where, Michael grabbed his wrist hard and did something that shook both of them to their core. 

He Alpha growled. 

It was a deep rumbling sound that ripped up from his chest and reverberated in his throat, echoing though the car and Jeremy instantly went limp, falling back and letting out a low whine. His eyes glazed over as everything hit him at once, and he couldn’t focus on anything but the Alpha in front of him who had immediately dropped his grip on Jeremy’s wrist, looking horrified. 

“Oh my god. Oh my god what was that, Jeremy are you okay?” 

Jeremy whimpered a little, hating himself for the reaction he was having and wishing more than anything to just disappear. The scent enveloping the car was driving him crazy, and he could tell his own pheromones were starting to make themselves known. 

As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, he could feel that the seat of his underwear beginning to dampen just a little bit, the first staged of pre-heat kicking into gear. This wasn’t okay, he didn’t feel safe or have any kind of nest prepared and to top it all off, his Alpha best friend was watching it unfold right in front of him. 

“M-Michael. You need to take me home. Now.”

He put as much urgency as he could into his shaky voice. It was clear from the slight flare of the Alpha’s nostrils and the blush on his cheeks that Michael could smell him now, had realized what was going on. 

“Do you need me to-“

“Don’t talk to me right now. Just drive.”

Jeremy looked away and curled up into himself as Michael nodded and shakily reached for the ignition, opening his window all the way down. The cold hardly mattered now. They just had to get Jeremy home quickly before one of them did something stupid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The true conflict of this chapter is that now neither of them get Taco Bell. If any Americans are reading this I'll trade you some free healthcare for a Crunchwrap Supreme bc that shit is the bomb and I miss it.


End file.
